The L.A. Times music blog

Album reviews: Prince's 'LotusFlow3r' and 'MPLSound,' and Bria Valente's 'Elixer'

March 23, 2009 | 2:30
pm

By now, most music fans are well aware that Prince will self-release three albums that will sell in one $11.98 bundle at Target and on the artist's website starting Sunday. Which one you fancy the most depends on what flavor of Prince "u" prefer -- the nasty antiquity of "MPLSound," the guitar-hero antics of "LotusFlow3r" or the VIP-lounge purrs of his protégée Bria Valente on "Elixer."

"MPLSound" is a valentine to Revolution-era traditionalists. The nine-song collection pays homage to Prince's beloved Minneapolis and trades in nostalgia, lifting the syncopated drum machine beats from "When Doves Cry" and name-checking Rick James. But it's not all naughty retro: "MPLSound" also incorporates Prince's faith as a Jehovah's Witness, like when he shouts "thank you, almighty" and "hallelujah" to a lover in "Dance 4 Me."

All three albums have a touch of the spirit, an abiding cleanliness that elevates sex to heavenly communion, but "MPLSound" might be the most pristine for what it ultimately lacks: the sense of real, lusty sin.

Ballads "Better With Time" and "U're Gonna C Me" leak syrup all over the soundboard, but "Chocolate Box," a strutting bit of funk braggadocio set in the club with a guest spot from Q-Tip, is electrifying. In "Valentina," Prince addresses Salma Hayek's daughter: "Tell your mama she should give me a call." Hayek might be one of the world's most voluptuous movie stars, but new mothers and their "nightly feedings" are not the typical pop subjects.

Possibly the album's most notable track -- for reasons fine and regrettable -- is the spirited romp "Ol' Skool Company." Here Prince, his voice doctored to sound like he's taking hits of helium, lets his curmudgeon rip for more than seven minutes, longing for an "old-school melody when God, his son and the love of family ruled in the community."

Valente, Prince's latest in a storied line of beautiful muses, has a
lovely voice that matches his current tastes for the clean line. Her
soundscapes, produced and arranged with Prince, are lighter than her
mentor's, traipsing from velvet-chaise funk to street tales of girly
crushes to dance-floor siren calls.

The problem is that not enough of "Elixer" sounds strong or fresh. Her
single "Another Boy" is sweetly reminiscent of '80s freestyle icons
Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, but it doesn't have that group's
rhythmically inventive backbone. In "2Nite," Valente whispers "disco,"
a genre that needs at least one modifier to not sound mummified in
polyester -- and then reports that there are "no drugs or guns up in this
place," just "old-school jazz put a smile on your face."

It's one of the many times when Valente feels uncomfortably like the mouthpiece for Prince and his oldster agenda.

The biggest challenge of Prince's triptych is "LotusFlow3r," a
guitar-steeped odyssey that bounces from Steely Dan jazz chords to
James Brown-esque mandates for funk to the tattered-flag psychedelia of
Jimi Hendrix. Though Prince has covered Radiohead's "Creep" on several
occasions, he's not interested in mimicking Jonny Greenwood's
articulated melancholy. Instead, Prince's guitar is a warm explosion,
sometimes self-indulgent but always rendered with starry-eyed
fascination for the instrument, endearing from a masterful musician who
plays so many.

In an effort to align himself as a true rocker, Prince includes a
reverb-soaked cover of Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson and
Clover," but it doesn't improve on Joan Jett's definitive rendition.
His own compositions are much more twisty and tasty. "Feel Good, Feel
Better, Feel Wonderful" is a jaunty slice of party funk with Prince's
most charismatic vocals this side of "Kiss" -- screechy, swaggering and
caterwauling. "Love Like Jazz" swings the other way, a bewitching gem
that wouldn't sound out of place as the intro to a '60s sitcom.

Prince geeks out on the whammy bar, drawing long, noodly jams on "Boom"
and the songs that bookend the album. But it's more rewarding when he
introduces control and structure, delivered by a crew of stars
including Maceo Parker and keyboardist Morris
Hayes. "MPLSound" might be comfortingly familiar, but "LotusFlow3r" is
the work of a musician who's still curious after all these years.